AS Monaco were held to a 1-1 draw by Le Mans FC in their Ligue 1 encounter on Sunday after the hosts scored a stoppage-time equaliser to deny the visitors victory at the Stade Marie-Marvingt.
Mamadou Coulibaly put Monaco ahead in the 40th minute, but Erwan Colas struck in the 90th minute to rescue a point for Le Mans, leaving the visitors frustrated after coming close to securing all three points.
The result came three days after Monaco recorded a 2-0 victory over Danish side Nordsjælland in the UEFA Conference League, extending their winning streak in the competition to three matches.
Monaco made seven changes to their starting line-up for the league fixture, with Filipe Luís bringing in Vanderson, Flávio Nazinho, Sadibou Sané and Eric Dier, among others, as the club sought to return to winning ways in the domestic league.
Le Mans started brightly and threatened early, but Louis Mafouta’s fifth-minute effort was ruled out after the ball had gone out of play during the build-up.
Goalkeeper Lukáš Hrádecký also denied Lucas Buades in the 10th minute.
Monaco gradually took control of the encounter, although two efforts were disallowed for offside.
Matthis Abline thought he had scored in the 21st minute, but Aleksandr Golovin was caught offside in the build-up, while Dame Gueye’s header was also ruled out in the 33rd minute.
The visitors eventually broke the deadlock five minutes before half-time when Coulibaly capitalised on a poor touch by Le Mans goalkeeper Nicolas Kocik, pressing him into a mistake before tapping the ball into an empty net.
Monaco maintained their advantage after the break, with Hrádecký making another save to deny Gueye in the 65th minute.
Vanderson also came close to extending the lead in the 80th minute, but his volley was parried away by Kocik.
Le Mans intensified their pressure in the closing stages, pushing forward in search of an equaliser.
Their persistence paid off in stoppage time when Colas fired home beneath the crossbar following a scramble from a corner kick to make it 1-1.
The draw saw Monaco provisionally move up to sixth position in the Ligue 1 standings ahead of the international break.
Monaco will return to league action on November 21 when they host Auxerre at the Stade Louis-II.
